Ghost is a seven by seven foot piece of bed linen, with the word GHOST hand embroidered in white and clear sequins in its center. Or more precisely, the negative space around the word GHOST is embellished with sequins. Alluding to the death bed and the winding-sheet, and through the sequins‚ material association with fashion and glamour, GHOST seeks to conjure the tragic atmosphere surrounding the premature deaths of gay men from AIDS since the 1980s‚ as well as the strange twilight that those of us who survive occupy.

Andrew McPhail is a Canadian artist based in Hamilton Ontario. His craft- and text-based work configures ephemeral materials such as band aids, Kleenex, disposable gloves and other textile related items into installations and performance-based gestures that seek to describe the fragility, pathos and humour of our existence, often referencing his experiences as a person living with HIV.

Curated by Helena Frei & Chris Mitchell, Hard Twist 10 Memory winds its way through textiles, a constant thread that runs through the earliest archaeological fragments, the latest experimental synthetics and everything in between. Textiles hold memory, recall memory, record – and occasionally obscure – memory. In some recent incarnations they even have memory. Opening reception on September 10th 7-10pm on the 3rd and 4th floors galleries. On view August 27, 2015 to December 27, 2015 on the 3rd and 4th floors of the hotel.

“This work includes hand-painted and digitally altered photographs of carefully arranged objects including: paintings built as horizontal pedestals, hand-woven copies of my husbands shirts, crumpled paper painted to resemble cloth, dresses from my closet, and hand-painted backdrops. They are accompanied by footnotes outlining the personal significance of each item depicted.”

Toronto-based artist and OCAD professor Michelle Forsyth holds an MFA from Rutgers University and a BFA from the University of Victoria. She has had exhibitions in New York, Lisbon, Philadelphia, Las Vegas as well as in Toronto. She has received grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and Artist Trust.

Curated by Helena Frei & Chris Mitchell, Hard Twist 10 Memorywinds its way through textiles, a constant thread that runs through the earliest archaeological fragments, the latest experimental synthetics and everything in between. Textiles hold memory, recall memory, record – and occasionally obscure – memory. In some recent incarnations they even have memory. Opening reception on September 10th 7-10pm on the 3rd and 4th floors galleries. On view August 27, 2015 to December 27, 2015 on the 3rd and 4th floors of the hotel.

TriangleSex v1.0 is the first quilt in history that was designed using a computer language called Processing. This quilt is a permanent physical record of a unique digital iteration that was randomly generated by code and a historic moment that can never be repeated. Its presence conveys a balance between computer memory and a moment in time created by hand.

Elizabeth (Libs) Elliott is a textile artist and designer based in Toronto, Canada. Since 2012, she has been exploring the intersection of technology and traditional craft by using generative design to build handmade quilts. A deep appreciation for craftsmanship, design history and future-focused applications are all reflected in her work. Her commissions include work for individuals and corporate clients such as Playground Inc. She has exhibited her projects and done speaking engagements internationally and been covered by press such as Gizmodo.com and The Creators Project.

Since 1995, Joshua Davis, an American designer, technologist, author and artist in new media, has made a career as an image-maker using programming. He writes his own code to produce interactions with users and to generate visual compositions according to rule-based, randomized processes. His work has been inducted into the Smithsonian’s Cooper Hewitt Design Museum, National Design Triennial 2006 ‘Design Life Now’, and has work in the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Curated by Helena Frei & Chris Mitchell, Hard Twist 10 Memory winds its way through textiles, a constant thread that runs through the earliest archaeological fragments, the latest experimental synthetics and everything in between. Textiles hold memory, recall memory, record – and occasionally obscure – memory. In some recent incarnations they even have memory. Opening reception on September 10th 7-10pm on the 3rd and 4th floors galleries. On view August 27, 2015 to December 27, 2015 on the 3rd and 4th floors of the hotel.

Lheila Palumbo’s works are hand woven with yarn and wood on a digital jacquard loom. They were inspired by the permanent collection of artifacts displayed in the Human Origins and Cultural Halls of the American Museum of Natural History, and by the human mind’s permanent state of flux as it shifts freely between past and present, two very different and dynamically fragmented worlds.

Originally from Toronto, Lheila Palumbo is a textile designer and instructor living in Montreal. Before entering the field of textile design and construction, she spent several years studying architecture and French literature. She currently teaches courses in advanced weaving, Jacquard weaving, and digital embroidery at the Montreal Centre for Contemporary Textiles.
Curated by Helena Frei & Chris Mitchell, Hard Twist 10 Memory winds its way through textiles, a constant thread that runs through the earliest archaeological fragments, the latest experimental synthetics and everything in between. Textiles hold memory, recall memory, record – and occasionally obscure – memory. In some recent incarnations they even have memory. Opening reception on September 10th 7-10pm on the 3rd and 4th floors galleries. On view August 27, 2015 to December 27, 2015 on the 3rd and 4th floors of the hotel.

“This body of work is about presence/absence, analysis of the art object as it is relative to a subjective viewer. I convey these motifs by picking individual weft threads out of factory grade raw canvas to reveal the warp. Reminiscent of the general size of an adult human, the work considers of the idea of a universal portrait. Minimalist but tedious labor is reflective of a love of labor; repetitive tactility and ‘un-making’ as meditation.”

Lukus Toane has lived in Toronto for 2 years and currently works as the Gladstone Hotel’s Exhibitions Coordinator. He has previously travelled and worked in art gallery facilitation in places such as Wroclaw, Poland and Sydney, Australia. Having roots in Northern Alberta, Toane received his education from Alberta College of Art & Design (ACAD) majoring in painting with emphasis on portraiture. He continues to explore the idea of art as object and it’s relativity to the people who live around it.

Curated by Helena Frei & Chris Mitchell, Hard Twist 10 Memory winds its way through textiles, a constant thread that runs through the earliest archaeological fragments, the latest experimental synthetics and everything in between. Textiles hold memory, recall memory, record – and occasionally obscure – memory. In some recent incarnations they even have memory. Opening reception on September 10th 7-10pm on the 3rd and 4th floors galleries. On view August 27, 2015 to December 27, 2015 on the 3rd and 4th floors of the hotel.

Digitization is a natural progression for citizens of contemporary culture, the technological age giving life to the first generation of cyber-natives. These works closely examine the idea of memory and childhood in modern society, drawing specifically upon first-hand experience of growing up among the latest household technologies. These images derive their composition and colour scheme from the imagery of my own childhood drawings.

A Toronto based artist working in contemporary painting and beadwork, Sam Pedicelli is primarily concerned with the evolution of modern communication and the forms through which it occurs. She utilizes traditional modes of fine art and craft in a meticulous consideration of the post-human condition. Sam currently resides in Toronto and is working towards finishing her undergraduate thesis at OCAD University.

Curated by Helena Frei & Chris Mitchell, Hard Twist 10 Memory winds its way through textiles, a constant thread that runs through the earliest archaeological fragments, the latest experimental synthetics and everything in between. Textiles hold memory, recall memory, record – and occasionally obscure – memory. In some recent incarnations they even have memory. Opening reception on September 10th 7-10pm on the 3rd and 4th floors galleries. On view August 27, 2015 to December 27, 2015 on the 3rd and 4th floors of the hotel.

“Working primarily with fabric, paper, and cardboard, I develop processes that exploit the affordances and limitations of media to create objects that explore themes of the absurd, grotesque, and uncanny. These objects press against the sticky, black film that coats our memories, grimacing through their restraints, seeking a connection.”

Originally from Denver, Colorado, Nick Lascot has been teaching and creating art in Toronto since he arrived from Brooklyn in 2011. Nick received a BFA from The School of Visual Arts and an MFA from Hunter College, and has participated in numerous exhibitions throughout New York City.

Curated by Helena Frei & Chris Mitchell, Hard Twist 10 Memory winds its way through textiles, a constant thread that runs through the earliest archaeological fragments, the latest experimental synthetics and everything in between. Textiles hold memory, recall memory, record – and occasionally obscure – memory. In some recent incarnations they even have memory. Opening reception on September 10th 7-10pm on the 3rd and 4th floors galleries. On view August 27, 2015 to December 27, 2015 on the 3rd and 4th floors of the hotel.

Personal memory is an intriguing phenomenon, which helps us situate ourselves amongst the people around us. Our memories form a sense of identity that connects us to the larger world. This work explores the memories of particular landscapes, along with the inevitable distortion and decay of memory over time.

Elycia SFA is a textile artist/designer /maker. The majority of her work revolves around themes of personal narratives, combined with memory, nostalgia, and loss, portraying these concepts in the form of woven cloth. Weaving is her primary method of making, combined with woven inlay and stitching, which allows her to draw with thread and create representational imagery within the body of the cloth.

Curated by Helena Frei & Chris Mitchell, Hard Twist 10 Memory winds its way through textiles, a constant thread that runs through the earliest archaeological fragments, the latest experimental synthetics and everything in between. Textiles hold memory, recall memory, record – and occasionally obscure – memory. In some recent incarnations they even have memory. Opening reception on September 10th 7-10pm on the 3rd and 4th floors galleries. On view August 27, 2015 to December 27, 2015 on the 3rd and 4th floors of the hotel.

Jenny Iserman: “I am largely self-taught, combining a career in social services with quilt making, book art, printmaking and mixed media. My day job sensitized me to the wrongs of our world, and my work reflects my conviction that one purpose of art is to bear witness and hope for change. This piece was originally juried into “Outside/Inside” at 2012 FiberPhiladelphia. It is one of my series of quilts and artist’s books exhibited in 2014 at the Durham (Ontario) Art Gallery.”

Curated by Helena Frei & Chris Mitchell, Hard Twist 10 Memory winds its way through textiles, a constant thread that runs through the earliest archaeological fragments, the latest experimental synthetics and everything in between. Textiles hold memory, recall memory, record – and occasionally obscure – memory. In some recent incarnations they even have memory. Opening reception on September 10th 7-10pm on the 3rd and 4th floors galleries. On view August 27, 2015 to December 27, 2015 on the 3rd and 4th floors of the hotel.

The Mend Collection is a small group of found, mended textiles. Worn to soft colours and mended with varying levels of skill, they evoke a dutiful domesticity, and a time when commodity was scarcer then it is now. The act of mending transforms the industrially produced sheets and blankets into unique items, allowing each of them to function metaphorically as a visual and tactile memory of the life of the user. Each item has been hand laced to fit over wooden stretchers.

Andrea Vander Kooij is a fibre and performance artist who holds an MFA degree from Concordia University. Her practice incorporates traditional craft-based mediums such as knitting, quilting and embroidery as well as elements of performance. Her work addresses gender issues and the body as well as challenging notions of art, craft, and labour.
Curated by Helena Frei & Chris Mitchell, Hard Twist 10 Memory winds its way through textiles, a constant thread that runs through the earliest archaeological fragments, the latest experimental synthetics and everything in between. Textiles hold memory, recall memory, record – and occasionally obscure – memory. In some recent incarnations they even have memory. Opening reception on September 10th 7-10pm on the 3rd and 4th floors galleries. On view August 27, 2015 to December 27, 2015 on the 3rd and 4th floors of the hotel.